Method and device to enable and assist the elderly and females to exercise their abdominal and lower back muscles

ABSTRACT

This multi-abdominal exercise machine is comprised of at least one foot-bar arranged to move up and down a vertical angular path for exercising the abdominal muscles otherwise known as the rectus abdominis. It is used in the sitting position. A controlled weight resistance mechanism is connected to the said foot-bar for providing adjustable resistance to movement. A seat that tilts up and down during the exercising movements together with and on the same axis as the foot-bar. At least one adjustable hand bar is positioned to aid entry to and exit from the machine and to stabilize the user while exercising. A dynamic back support is positioned to provide a contra, massage and stability while exercising. 
     A method for using the abdominal exerciser is comprised of sitting on the dynamic seat, putting one&#39;s feet onto the foot-bar and lifting the knees towards the stomach. The said lifting causes the abdominal muscles to exercise, which effect is enhanced as the said seat moves.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention is in the field of exercise resistance machines forimprovement of general health, especially strengthening the abdominalmuscles known in Latin as rectus abdominis. These muscles control thetilt of the pelvis to improve the mechanical positioning of the spine.The exercising provides physiotherapeutic effects to strengthen, buildand rebuild muscles and bone mass and prevents muscle and bone massdeterioration while avoiding any pressure on the lower back and theunique massage roller simultaneously promotes back muscle relaxation.This patent relates to and caters for the special needs of the elderly,those convalescing from injury or surgery and females.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The use of machines for exercising the body is well known in the art.For many decades it has been considered beneficial for a person's healthto exercise regularly. The benefits are many and probably some that weare not yet aware. A few of the better known benefits are to thefunctioning of the heart, the blood vessels, the blood cells, themuscles, the bone structure, the functioning of the brain, the levels ofcholesterol and blood sugars, and the general feeling of well-being.There was a time when it was felt to be not so beneficial for theelderly to exercise but now it is considered also very beneficial.Obviously, the degree of stress on the body and length of time of suchexercise varies from person to person depending on age, general healthand any specific disabilities endured.

One of the factors that make it difficult for the elderly is their lackof agility. They often have pain when moving their various limbs. Thisdiscourages them from starting to exercise even though when they haveexercised, usually they feel better than beforehand. If they avoidexercising then they do not enjoy the many side benefits of exercisingand a vicious cycle is sometimes created whereby their healthdeteriorates generally. Most prior art exercise machines do not takeinto account the special needs of the elderly and therefore help tocreate this barrier. The machines are often cumbersome, sometimescomplicated to operate, without easily understandable instructions,without handles to aid entering and exiting and without taking intoaccount the sometimes frail and painful limbs of the elderly. They arebasically designed for the young and middle aged.

The elderly either currently suffer from ailments that are best assistedby controlled exercise or are likely to suffer from such ailments ifthey do not exercise, for example, heart disease, weight control,walking stability, osteoporosis or lower back pains.

Daily activities, that a younger person performs automatically withoutrealizing how many muscles and joints are involved, can be a major causeof pain and other discomforts throughout the day for the elderly ordisabled.

Examples of such daily activities are bending to tie shoes, getting inand out of the car or bath, walking up stairs or a hill, pushing ashopping cart, carrying groceries and simply stretching to reach items.These are but a few of the hundreds of activities that an elderly personhas to do daily and without regular exercising and muscle strengtheningthese everyday activities become more difficult as the person ages.

Women are more prone than men to a bone disease called osteoporosis,usually from the age of menopause and older. One of the majorrecommended preventative measures for osteoporosis is regular exercisingof the weight bearing kind in order to increase the bone mass.Furthermore, females more than males, require special features inexercise machines to cater for their more delicate body structuresTherefore, it would be preferable for the elderly, those convalescingand females, to use exercise machines that are purpose built and userfriendly for their specific needs. The apparatus of this invention isspecifically and professionally designed for the special needs of thisgroup of users. The innovation of this invention includes and/or takesinto account amongst others, the following factors:

-   -   the user's general lack of agility and possibility of various        pains when moving into position to start exercising, during the        exercising and when exiting,    -   to give as much as possible clutter free access and a minimum of        overhead apparatus to ease entry/exit and to avoid accidental        injury to the user or a helper of the user,    -   to have a dynamic seat.    -   to have a choice of foot-bars at different heights to suit        different sized people,    -   the need for a back-rest to give the user a feeling of comfort,        massage and stability,    -   the need for smaller gradations of weights so that resistance        and muscle stress can be more gradually increased,    -   the proper placing of handles and bars to aid entering and        leaving the machines and stabilizing handles to optionally hold        while exercising,    -   notices and instructions written in clear language and large        print,        and many other features for the benefit of the infirm as are        herein described in greater detail.

Prior art has addressed some aspects of the needs of older people. Forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,302 issued to Miller reveals a moveableexercise machine that can be brought to a chair ridden person toexercise. The novelty is more in the portability features than the useof the machine itself. US Patent Application No. 20040220019 issued toMaser reveal a special feature for older people namely that in a pedalmachine both pedals can start at their lowest level instead of one upand one down. The Japanese Patent No. 2004016577 issued to Shigeo et al.reveals an exercise machine where the user can exercise in a recumbentposition but the range of movements of the arms and legs is limited withno possibility of increasing or decreasing the stress to the arms orlegs. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,419 issued to Rota showing howbeneficial the rebounding type of exercise is for all aged usersespecially the elderly. The uniqueness of this invention is thecombination of all its various features into one device as are hereindescribed. After years of research the innovators of this invention havefound solutions to the above mentioned problems generally and to thespecific problems and needs of the elderly and infirm. The result isincorporated in the apparatus of this invention as hereinafterdescribed. The result is a user friendly machine that the infirm willwant to use because it answers their special needs. It will help themovercome that so important initial step of starting to exercise. Thecommercial potential for such machines is great. Firstly the purchasercould be an end user of the exercise machine of this invention or anexercise club that also wishes to cater for the elderly, infirm or thoserecuperating from injury. Such exercise clubs will be able to attractmore members and from a wider range of population. Exercise clubs forwomen only, will be able to offer machines user friendly for females.Old-age homes are likely purchasers of these machines, to improve theoverall health of their members, to usefully occupy their time and toattract new members by showing quality facilities. Hotels often haveexercise rooms and will want to provide quality facilities for theirelderly customers. Hospitals or homes for rehabilitation after medicaloperations or accidents are another likely customer for such machines.Most of the features designed for older people will also assist peoplerecouping from illness or operations. They will recover faster, reducethe number of visits to the physiotherapist and be happy that they arehelping themselves to become independent and return to their normalroutine. The manufacturers of this invention will be catering for amarket that is expanding rapidly both by the greater percentage ofpeople living to older ages and the increasing awareness amongst allsectors of the population that regular exercising is a key to improvedhealth. Health funds have already recognized how many millions ofdollars they save each year when their members maintain a betterstandard of health. As a result these health funds often subsidize fortheir members, the membership fees of exercise clubs. All these factorswill contribute to the commercial success of this invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description present embodiments of the invention,and are intended to provide an overview, or framework, for understandingthe nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. Theaccompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding ofthe invention, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of thisspecification. The drawings illustrate various embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description serve to explain theprinciples and operations of the invention.

An object of this invention is to provide a machine to exercise andthereby strengthen the abdominal muscles as well as maintain bone massof the infirm. This muscle strengthening and bone mass maintenance willin turn help to improve balance, improve posture, increase ability tosit from lying down and stand from the sitting position, increase pelvicsuspension and reduce incidence of falls. Another object of theinvention is to strengthen the muscles called rectus abdominis.

Another object of the invention is to help to tilt forward the pelvis toimprove the positioning and flexibility of the spine. Another object ofthe invention is to have a dynamic seat to enhance the exercising effecton the abdominal muscles. Another object of the invention is to have anupholstered and adjustable back and lumbar support pad that is dynamicon its longitudinal axis to support and massage the user's back as aresult of the user's movements during exercising.

Another object of this invention is to enhance a person's ability tobalance.

Another object of this invention is for the said exercise machine to bestably resting on the ground when in use and optionally moveable when sodesired.

Another object of this invention is to ease the access to and exit fromthe exercise machine where for example, there is no overhangingapparatus potentially capable of causing head or other injury andwithout sharp edges protruding from the apparatus.

Another object of the invention is to have at least one static handsupport bar to increase the user's stability while using machine and/orwhile entering or exiting.

Another object of this invention is to have adjustable static handles tooptionally hold onto while exercising.

Another object of the invention is to make instructions for the usersimple to understand and written in large print in a color thatcontrasts with its background. It is also an object to make the saidinstructions readable while the user is in position on the exercisemachine.

Another object of the invention is to have a picture on the body of theapparatus in a clearly visible position and color, illustrating aneveryday task. This task the infirm often find difficult to carry outand is made easier by strengthening the specific muscles that themachine of this invention helps to strengthen. State of art exercisemachines often mention on the machine the name of the muscles that willbe strengthened by the machine or sometimes they have a picture of thosemuscles in a picture of a body. The user of an exercise machine will beable to relate much easier to a picture of the everyday task that willbe enhanced by using the machine. It will give the user a greaterincentive to work diligently at the said exercises.

One of the everyday tasks that is associated with this invention iscarrying of objects by holding them in ones arms opposite the stomachand/or chest.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthis specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain, by way of example only,the principles of the invention:

Fig A is a side sectional diagram of the essential parts of the exercisemachine of this invention.

Fig B is a back sectional diagram of the essential parts of the exercisemachine of this invention.

Fig C is a top sectional diagram of the essential parts of the exercisemachine of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As will be appreciated the present invention is capable of other anddifferent embodiments than those discussed above and described in moredetail below, and its several details are capable of modifications invarious aspects, all without departing from the spirit of the invention.Accordingly, the drawings and description of the embodiments set forthbelow are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.

Fig A shows the side view of this invention. The machine can be referredto as a multi-abdominal exercise machine 100. The user can use theoverhead adjustable static handles 104 to assist maneuvering himselfinto position on the dynamic seat 106, to begin to exercise. Once inposition on the seat 106 the user may wish to hold onto the handles 104to stabilize himself while exercising. The handles 104 are adjustable onthe axle 102 which said adjustment uses a numbered disc, each numberrepresenting a different hole in the disc, where a spring loaded pinfits in the desired hole thereby fixing the handles 102 at the desiredheight. The said user then puts both his feet onto the foot-bar 110 or112, whichever is more comfortable for his height, and lifts up hisknees as the said foot-bar 110 or 112 supports the upward and downwardpush movement of the feet.

The effect of so lifting and lowering the knees and foot-bar 110 or 112is two-fold, namely, firstly, it lifts at the same time the bar 116.Foot-bars 110 and 112 are joined by bar 114 which in turn is joined in afixed position to bar 116. Bar 116 is joined to bar 118 at the pivotalaxis 120. The resistance cable 130 is attached to bar 116 at point 122so that when bar 116 is raised the resistance cable 130 is pulledthereby lifting weights 136 in the weight stack housing 134. The cable130 is attached at its one end to bar 116 at point 122 and passes overpulleys 124, 126 and 128 and at its other end it is attached to a boredpin-rod 133 and hence to the weights 136 as described in more detailbelow. The pulleys 124, 126 and 128 change the direction of the pullingforce in cable 130 with minimum friction. The second effect of liftingthe knees and foot-bars 110 and 112 is that the front of seat 106 thatis joined in a fixed position to bar 116 rises and lowers tilting intandem with bar 116 as it also tilts the pelvis of the user.

As the user raises his knees, gravitational force pulls the buttocks ofthe user downward and conversely as he pushes downwards with his feetthe seat 106 angles upwards. This seesaw movement has the effect ofincreasing the exercise effect on the abdominal muscles.

The seat 106 is attached to the body of the exercise machine 100 via bar118 by the double bearing pivot 107.

The user can adjust the degree of resistance the abdominal muscles willhave to overcome to tilt the pelvis upwards while simultaneously raisingthe foot-bars 110 and 112. The resistance is usually adjustedconveniently using weights as is well known in the art. The weights 136are housed in the weight housing 134 and are stacked vertically. Thecable 130 is attached to a bored pin-rod 133. The cable 130 can be,alternatively, a belt or a chain. The bored pin-rod 133 has at least onehole corresponding to the number of weights 136. The weights 136 eachhave a hole in them passing horizontally from front to back. The pin 132is inserted through a certain weight and into one of the holes in thebored pin-rod 133. When the user lifts his feet under the foot-bar 110or 112 the resistance cable 130 will cause the weights 136 to rise. Theamount of weights 136 to rise is the one with the pin 132 through it andany weights above it. The lower the pin 132 is placed in the stack ofweights 136, the more weights 136 will be lifted and hence the greaterthe resistance on the user's abdominal muscles as he raises his kneesand tilts his pelvis upwards.

Another innovative feature of this multi-abdominal exercise machine 100is its upholstered dynamic back rest 140. This back rest 140 helps tosupport, provide contra and massage the back of the exerciser as heraises and lowers his feet which in turn causes him to move upwards anddownwards on the dynamic seat 106. As the seat 106 is at an anglerelative to the floor level, when the exerciser seesaws up and down hisheight will go up and down relative to the static body of the exercisemachine 100. The back rest 140 is therefore circular in shape, revolvingaround axis 142, to accommodate the said movements of the exerciser'sback.

Fig B is the front view of the multi-abdominal exercise machine 100. Thefoot-bars 110 and 112 can be seen along their length and their joiningbar 114. The seat 106 is pivotally attached to the body of the exercisemachine 100 at the bearing 107. The -back rest 140 is at the back of andslightly above seat 106 and the full length of the axis 142 is markedwith an intermittent line. The steadying handles 104 are attached to thebody of the exercise machine 100 together with its height adjustmentdiscs 102. The weight stack housing 134 is seen from its closed side.The open side faces the exerciser as seen in Fig A.

Fig C shows the multi-abdominal exercise machine 100 from the top view.The parts visible in this figure are the dynamic seat 106 and thedynamic back rest 140 and the weight stack housing 134. The steadyinghandles 104 and their adjustment discs 102. The foot-bars 110 and 112are attached to the body of the exercise machine 100.

What is claimed:
 1. An exercise machine comprising a frame, a foot-barfor placing the feet onto using the knees to press in an upwarddirection while said foot-bar supports rising feet, a means to applyresistance to the said foot-bar, a dynamic seat, a dynamic back-supportpad, at least one steadying and stabilization handle, whereby peoplegenerally and especially the elderly, infirm and females can exercisetheir abdominal muscles.
 2. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 1wherein the said resistance is adjustable.
 3. An exercise machine asclaimed in claim 2 wherein the said adjustability is in increments of atmost one kilogram.
 4. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 3 wherethe extent of the resistance is chosen by means of inserting a pin in ahorizontal hole passing through the width of a chosen weight and into abored pin-rod that is attached to a cable joining the said bored pin-rodto the said foot-bar whereby that weight and all the weights above itare lifted by the said cable when the seat tilts upwards by theabdominal muscles contracting and tilting the pelvis upwards
 5. Anexercise machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said weights areattached by means of a cable and pulleys to a pivotal link connectingthe said tilting seat and connected foot-bar.
 6. An exercise machine asclaimed in claim 5 wherein the stack of weights and the said pin areeasily reachable by the user prior to exercising.
 7. An exercise machineas claimed in claim 1 further comprising a numbered dial with a means toadjust the position of the said steadying handles.
 8. An exercisemachine as claimed in claim 7 wherein the said adjustment is effectedwith a spring-loaded pin entering synchronized holes in two paralleladjacent discs, one disc being attached to the stationary frame of thesaid exercise machine and the other disc being attached to theconnecting bar of the said steadying handles.
 9. An exercise machine asclaimed in claim 8 wherein the said adjustment is graded by numbers on adisc
 10. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the saiddynamic seat moves on a pivot in tandem with the foot-bar.
 11. Anexercise machine as claimed in claim 10 wherein the said dynamism isrepresented by the said seat seesawing up and down as the knees areraised and lowered during exercising.
 12. An exercise machine as claimedin claim 1 wherein the said back-support is dynamic in a circularmotion.
 13. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 12 wherein the saidcircular motion is a rotation around its central horizontal axis.
 14. Anexercise machine as claimed in claim 1 further comprising at least threewheels for transporting the machine where at least one wheel mechanismlifts the said exercise machine off the ground causing the weight of thesaid exercising machine to rest on the said wheel and of which at leastone wheel is lockable thereby enabling the said exercise machine to restfirmly on the ground or optionally, be moved on the said wheels.
 15. Anexercise machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the access to the saidexercise machine is open and uncluttered thereby easing the entry to andexit from the said exercising machine by the elderly or infirm andeasing the work of a helper of the said elderly or infirm.
 16. Anexercise machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said stabilization isduring entry to and exit from the said exercising machine as well asduring the action of exercising.
 17. An exercise machine comprising aframe, a foot-bar for placing the feet onto that supports the feet whenknees are raised and then returns to starting position, a dynamic seat,a dynamic back-support pad, at least one steadying and stabilizationhandle, instructions for use of the said exercising machine, at leastone picture of an everyday task that is enhanced by the use of the saidexercising machine, whereby people generally and especially the elderly,infirm and females can exercise their abdominal muscles.
 18. An exercisemachine as claimed in claim 17 wherein the said instructions are inlarge clear print well contrasted with the background of the said printbeing visible and readable by the user of the said exercise machine fromthe position of the user when ready to exercise.
 19. An exercise machineas claimed in claim 17 wherein the said picture of an everyday task isaffixed to the body of the said exercise machine in a position easilyvisible and designed to be easily understandable which task is beingrepresented.
 20. An exercise machine as claimed in claim 19 wherein thesaid everyday task is the carrying of objects by holding them in onesarms opposite the stomach and/or chest.
 21. An exercise machine asclaimed in claim 1 wherein the said cable is substituted by a belt orchain.